*Nate*

My stomach is tied in a tight knot, and I can only imagine what Julia must be going through back at The Avalon. The judge sits down and looks at both James and Nadine before speaking.

"This has been one of the most difficult cases for me and I've been doing this for years." Judge Capriotti begins. "Miss Jones, I truly am sorry for your loss. This is an accident that very well could have been prevented, and Malcolm Jones would still be alive today."

Oh no.

"Mr. Gallo. You made a decision. You got behind the wheel and drove when you were too tired. You ran a red light. You changed the lives of many with that one action."

Fuck.

I begin to silently cry, as does everyone behind me, next to me, and James in front of me.

"A choice was made. A life was taken. We can't change that. We can't do anything to bring Mr. Jones back just like we can't magically heal Mr. Gallo's permanent disabilities. Miss. Jones, you deserve the justice you seek for your uncle."

Trisha lets go of my hand. She's visibly shaking now, trying to hold in her emotion.

"Mr. Gallo. We have rules and laws for a reason. Crimes cannot go unpunished."

James nods his head and wipes his eyes, accepting his fate now.

"Our prisons are well equipped for all types of people with disabilities, son."

"Oh God." I mutter and Jonah squeezes my shoulder.

The judge pauses for a moment and looks down at his documents. The courtroom is full of tears and sniffles. Even Addison looks a bit shaken up.

"In California, non-gross vehicular manslaughter is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in county Jail. Sentencing you to serve time in prison and accommodate your disabilities under the ADA guidelines is a costly expense. I thought long and hard over this. You DO need to serve time, Mr. Gallo."

James stares at the judge and nods again respectfully.

"But serving time in prison is not the best option for you. We reserve jail space for more serious offenders, Mr. Gallo." He looks at James with sympathy. "I hereby reduce your sentence to six months of house arrest then 12 months of probation to follow. This will avoid the negative effects of being incarcerated."

"Judge Capriotti..." Colton speaks out but gets no attention from the judge.

"You will be fined the $1000.00 and two points on your driving record. You will be required to pay for your house arrest which is $3000.00 for six months. You will wear an ankle bracelet to monitor you and remain at home at all times except for pre-approved reasons. You are allowed to leave for medical appointment, to attend church, or counseling services. All other reasons will need to be pre-approved. Miss Jones, I truly am sorry for your loss. But you did not have any financial setbacks due to the fact you did not plan a service, funeral or even a casket for your uncle. You will receive zero money from Mr. Gallo OR Mr. Hollan for your losses." He shakes his head.

Colton West lost. He lost and he is pissed.

"Good luck to you, James. I hope you recover fully and also hope I never see you here again. Court is adjourned."

*******

*Julia*

I stare at the TV even while Paul is hugging me.

"Wait." I mutter. "Wait. I don't understand."

"Julia. He's not going to jail. James won't be incarcerated."

I stand in shock for a moment after Paul lets go. His eyes are glossy, but I remain emotionless.

And then.

It hits me.

Everything hits me all at once. Like a freight train. I drop to my knees and sob. Paul kneels down and fucking smiles at me while I lose my shit, ugly crying for a good five minutes straight. Then I throw my arms around Paul, realizing what this means. James will not step foot into a prison. He will be taken care of. He won't have to worry about his disabilities. He will be safe. He can be home.

"Wait." I repeat, now sitting on the floor of my living room. "They said house arrest. But who's house? His house? Nates? I'm confused."

"It doesn't matter, Moretti. Gallo can handle home confinement. He wouldn't have been able to handle prison."

James isn't going to jail.

It's over.

******

*Nate*

"So now what happens?" James asks after we have been sent back to the holding room. A good ten minutes after court was spent with James's sisters and friends wrapping their arms around him in relief. Now we wait for Addison to come in and give us more details.

"We won, Mr. Gallo." Addison smiles brightly at her client as she walks into the room. "You will be assigned a parole officer and, depending on where you choose to stay, fitted for an ankle monitor to wear for 6 months, but so long as you follow the house arrest rules you will not step foot in a prison."

James sits down on the couch, feeling a little lightheaded and I sit next to him.

"James, I met with Addison this morning to go over things in case this was a possibility." I begin but get interrupted by Trisha.

"Wait, you did? When?!" She asks, sitting on the other side of James while holding his hand.

"It doesn't matter."

"Listen, James." Addison drags a chair over to sit across from us. "I just talked to Judge Capriotti about this. He is doing this out of compassion, ok? Because of your disabilities and the need for 24/7 care, he is giving you options on where you would like to serve your house arrest."

"W-what do you mean?"

"James. You can choose where you want to live for the next six months. You can live in your own home and have your sisters take care of you, or live in my apartment, though in a few months we leave for tour so your sisters would have to take over the last few months, or..." I pause. "You can move into Julia's Avalon apartment, live with her and Paul and she can take care of you."

James's eyes light up.

Trisha slowly let's go of his hand.

"Sir, you choose where you want to live." Addison nods.

"They'd let me live with Julia?"

"I already talked to her doctor, and he ok'd it." She states.

Trisha frowns and looks down at her hand that was just holding James's.

"With Julia. Of course. I'd live with Julia." He nods to the lawyer, and I watch Trisha's face fall even more. It breaks my heart. James didn't even have to second guess it. Of course he would live with Julia. We are all leaving to go back on tour. Trisha knows this. But she also knows what this means for their relationship. It's most likely over.

For all I know, this could mean the same for me and Julia as well. I'm not sure what will happen but I'm just relieved James won't go to prison. To be honest, I can't worry about the rest. Everything else will fall into place.

"So here is the deal then, Mr. Gallo. Because you are choosing to live at The Avalon, an assisted living facility, Judge Capriotti said the rules are a little bit different. Ankle monitors only allow a distance of about 150 ft. That's only 50 yards. The size of a small bedroom. As you know, the Avalon is huge. Because it is an assisted living facility staffed with security, you will abide by the Avalon rules. That means no ankle monitor. If you need to leave the facility you will have to sign out with the front office and have the required documents showing where exactly you are going and the reasoning. The front desk will then put a temporary portable monitoring device that locks on your ankle before you leave the premises. This will track exactly where you are going. Then when you return and sign in, the front desk will unlock the device and store it in your locker until the next time you need to leave. Usually, home confinement would confine you to Miss Moretti's apartment and only her apartment, but instead, you will become an Avalon patient. Mr. Hollan agreed to pay your tuition, and you will follow the Avalon schedule. You will go to at least one session per day. It says here, you attend grief counseling and have been for years?"

"Yes. Since my son died."

Addison nods solemnly and looks back down at the files.

"And regular counseling due to an abusive father? You also have PTSD Night Terrors." Her eyes widen. "The Avalon has grief counseling. As well as counseling for abuse and sleep issues because of the abuse. A lot of addicts have a history of abuse that led them to their addictions. It looks to be more than just a rehab/ detox center. It offers many different counseling opportunities for you to attend."

"Hold on, James, you are willing to be an Avalon patient?? You don't have mental illness, and you don't have an addiction problem!" Trisha blurts out. Jonah and Casey both share a look with me. We had a feeling this would be hard to swallow for Trish.

"Trish. This is a good thing." Jonah begins. "The Avalon is staffed with plenty of nurses for James if he ever needed one. Julia can take care of him in her apartment with Paul's supervision. Her place is much bigger than 150 ft and he has access to the outdoors with her backyard being part of The Avalon."

"And he wouldn't have to wear an ankle bracelet. The judge is going on your good merit. You made a mistake. Not from a DUI or drugs. From working too hard. Your character alone shows good merit. He's giving you a second chance at life."

"But you wouldn't want to stay at Nate's apartment? It's huge and you will have plenty of people to take care of you. Casey can walk the dog whenever, you'd have... " Trisha studies James's face. "Me..."

His eyes fall away and I take over.

"Trish...love, look at me." I move to the other side of the couch and take her hands in mine. "You can go visit him whenever you like."

"At the AVALON?" She begins to cry. Trisha hates going to the Avalon and she isn't exactly besties with Julia. This is going to be an adjustment for her.

"If you were in his shoes and on home confinement. Couldn't drive. Would you stay at your apartment or mine, with me?" I ask.

"Well, yours. You know that! You're my..." Her words falter and chin quivers a little. "Best friend."

"Exactly, doll. He wants to be with his best friend. Just like I would want you to be with me, you see?"

"And Jonah and I can take turns stopping by and walking the dog. There's a nice park right around the corner from The Avalon. It's not Griffith but it has plenty of room for Maggie to get her exercise. I'm sure once we go on tour, Lindsay will help out in that department." Casey smiles at James and gives Trisha an empathetic look.

"So...no tour then? For you, I mean." Trisha turns back to James who shakes his head no, now feeling bad for her with her reaction to everything.

But Trish, love her to death, she needs to fucking snap out of it. I get it. This is a lot to take in and it affects her personally. But James doesn't care about tour. He's a simple man and probably wasn't going back on tour with us anyway. It was too hard for him to travel. He couldn't fly often with those headaches and driving was hard to coordinate. Trish needs to see this as a positive thing. And she will. She just needs to digest it all first.

******

*Julia*

I pace back and forth in my living room unsure of what happens now.

"So, if James has home confinement and is currently living at Nate's... I'm a full-time patient here. Jeremy isn't going to let me just leave whenever I want to go see James. I'm gonna need to get permission. Sign in and out at the front desk like expected... I'm gonna-"

"Julia. Take a breath." Paul sees I'm talking fast and beginning to get worked up trying to process everything. "I'm sure they will have it all figured out, ok?"

"But... it's been over two hours now and we haven't heard from anyone." I look up at the TV at the reporters. Two hours ago, Nate and James walked out of the courthouse together with the lawyer and the bodyguards. Addison spoke for James in a statement, and he was smiling from ear to ear. The reporters ate it up. The crowd cheered for him like he's now a celebrity. In their eyes, he is. They grew to love him and his story over the last few weeks of him being in the news.

What's not to love?

He's James.

******